Discourse is the way people talk about any specific topic. It’s also the way in which language is used to convey social and historical meanings. Discourse analysis is the process that helps to understand the underlying message of what is being said. Sounds interesting? Keep reading to learn more.
This in this article, our custom writing team will:
- define discourse and its analysis;
- explain how to write a discourse analysis essay step by step;
- provide an essay sample.
🤔 What Is a Discourse Analysis?
To write a good discourse analysis, it’s essential to understand its key concepts. This section of the article will focus on the definition of discourse itself and then move on to its analysis.
Discourse: Definition
Discourse is verbal or written communication that has unity, meaning, and purpose. In linguistics, discourse refers to a unit of language that is longer than a sentence. When you analyze discourse, you examine how the language is used to construct connected and meaningful texts.
One crucial thing that can’t be neglected when it comes to discourse is the context. In linguistics, there are different ways to classify contexts. Here is one such classification:
The knowledge of context is crucial for discourse analysis, as it helps interpret the text’s meaning. For that reason, it’s essential to keep the context in mind while analyzing the discourse. No context simply means no discourse.
Discourse vs Syntax: Difference
- Syntax is one of discourse’s dimensions. It encompasses rules for composing grammatical sentences. Unlike discourse, syntax can also be applied to non-verbal instances such as music or any other code.
- Discourse is one level above syntax. It studies how the sets of sentences following syntactic parameters work together and convey the meaning.
Spoken Discourse vs Written Discourse
Discourse itself can be classified as written and spoken (or oral.) One of the main differences is that spoken discourse uses spoken words to transfer information, while written one uses written words. There are also some other differences:
- Spoken discourse needs to be understood immediately. It also usually contains discourse markers—words that create pause or separation of ideas such as “you know,” “like,” or “well.”
- Written discourse can be referred to several times. For the written discourse to happen, the participants need to know how to write and read, requiring specific skills. It’s also often tied to the genre or structure of the language it uses to imply the purpose or context of the text.
Discourse Analysis Definition
Discourse analysis is a technique that arose in the late 20th century from the growing interest in qualitative research. The main purpose of discourse analysis is to understand the message and its implications. It can be done by studying the text’s parts and the factors that influence people’s understanding of it.
Discourse analysis is deeply connected with linguistics, anthropology, sociology, socio-psychology, philosophy, communications studies, and literature. It challenges the idea that we should take language for granted and instead encourages more interpretative and qualitative approaches. That’s why it is used in various fields to:
- describe organizational change;
- read between the lines while analyzing policy texts;
- provide greater depth to qualitative accounting research;
- use multiple fields to synthesize information.
Content Analysis vs. Discourse Analysis
Content analysis and discourse analysis are research techniques used in various disciplines. However, there are several differences between the two:
- Content analysis is quantitative. It focuses on studying and retrieving meaningful information from documents.
- Discourse analysis is qualitative. It focuses on how language is used in texts and contexts.
🔬 Preparing to Write a Discourse Analysis Essay
Now let’s talk about writing a discourse analysis essay. Before you start to work on your paper, it’s best to decide what type of discourse analysis you plan to do and choose the correct approach. It will influence your topic choice and writing techniques. Besides, it will make the whole process easier.
Types of Discourse Analysis: How to Choose
Critical Discourse Analysis Characteristics
Critical discourse analysis or CDA is a cross-disciplinary methodological and theoretical approach. It focuses on the issues of power and inequalities in linguistic interactions between individuals and groups. It’s closely related to applied linguistics, cultural and social studies, anthropology, intercultural communication, and critical pedagogy.
Choose a critical discourse analysis if you want to do the following:
- Study meaning and context of the verbal interaction or a text.
- Focus on the topics of identity and power.
- Examine the potential for a change in an area.
- Explore the connections between power and ideology.
Cultural Discourse Analysis Characteristics
Cultural discourse analysis or CuDA is a method of studying culturally distinctive communication practices in our world. In the communication field, CuDA is most often used by scholars of Language and Social Interaction.
Choose a cultural discourse analysis if you’re interested in:
- Studying culturally-specific means of communication in various local contexts.
- Seeing how people talk about identity, relations, actions, and feelings.
- Proving that the differences should be acknowledged, embraced, and celebrated in intercultural dialogue.
Political Discourse Analysis Characteristics
Political discourse analysis or PDA focuses on the use of language in politics, political texts, and documents. It also includes the recipients of communicative political events, such as the citizens and the general public. Therefore, it can be said the discourse is located in both political and public spheres.
Choose a political discourse analysis if you want to do the following:
- Deal with the concepts of political power, power abuse, or domination.
- Examine the discursive conditions and consequences of social and political inequality.
- Analyze the words and actions of politicians.
Multimodal Discourse Analysis Characteristics
Multimodal discourse analysis is a technique that implies looking at multiple modes of communication such as text, color, and images. It studies how they interact with one another to create semiotic meaning.
Each mode of communication plays a specific role in the analysis. A picture, for instance, can easily depict something that takes too long to describe in words. Colors are mainly used to highlight specific aspects of the general message.
Choose a multimodal discourse analysis if you plan to:
- Look at several modes of communication at once.
- Conduct a nuanced and complex analysis of visual media.
- Work with online sources and platforms.
Approaches to Discourse Analysis: How to Choose
Now that you’ve chosen the type of discourse analysis, it’s time to choose a suitable approach. There are two approaches to discourse analysis: language-in-use and socio-political discourse analysis.
- The language-in-use approach mainly focuses on the regular use of language in communication. It pays attention to sentence structure, phonology, and grammar. This approach is very descriptive and is mainly used in linguistics or literature.
- The socio-political approach focuses on how a language influences the social and political context and vice versa. One of the main socio-political approaches is Critical Discourse Analysis, born out of Michel Foucault’s work Discipline and Punish. It identifies two types of power: normalized and repressive (you can read about in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s entry on Foucault.)
The language-in-use framework involves identifying the technicalities of language and investigating how the features are used in a particular social context.
Example:
the English language usually uses affixes and suffixes but not infixes. If an English speaker says something similar to “that’s un-flipping-believable,” the questions for this approach would be “What role does the infix play?” or “What is the goal of using such an infix?”
Now let’s see an example of a socio-political approach. We’ll take the power dynamic between a teacher and a student as an illustration.
Example:
A teacher threatening a student with detention if they don’t stop speaking in class can be classified as a repressive power. Normalized power, in contrast, isn’t actively asserted. It’s the power that makes students not want to talk in class. It’s manifested in the subtle clues from our environment that tell students how to behave.
👣 How to Do Discourse Analysis Step by Step
Now you are finally ready to start writing your discourse analysis. Follow our step-by-step guide, and you’ll excel at it.
Step #1: Choose the research question and select the content of the analysis.
Coming up with a clearly defined research question is crucial. There’s no universal set of criteria for a good research question. However, try to make sure that you research question:
- clearly states the purpose of the work;
- is not too broad or too narrow;
- can be investigated and has enough sources to rely on;
- allows you to conduct an analysis;
- is not too difficult to answer.
Step #2: Gather information.
Go through interviews, speeches, discussions, blogs, etc., to collect all the necessary information. Make sure to gather factual details of when and where the content you will use was created, who the author is, and who published it.
Step #3: Study the context.
This step involves a close examination of various elements of the gathered material.
- Take a closer look at the words used in the source text, its sentences, paragraphs, and overall structure.
- Consider 3 constructs of context: participants, setting, and purpose. These 3 characteristics reflect information about the individual, their emotional state, and their identity as members of a societal group.
Step #4: Review the results.
Once you’ve researched and examined all the sources, it’s time to reflect on your results and place your analysis in a broader context.
- To establish a broader context, you may consider what events have impacted the topic you are writing about and the consequences.
- Finally, draw conclusions that answer your research question.
Step #5: Make an outline.
Before you are all set with your discourse analysis, one last step is to write an outline. Usually, a discourse analysis essay consists of six parts:
📑 Example of Discourse Analysis Essay
Now that you know all about discourse analysis, we will introduce an example of a discourse analysis essay. From this sample, you can see what the layout of this kind of essay usually looks like.
You might also want to check out the discourse analysis samples below.
Discourse Analysis Essay Topics
- The benefits of infographics in social media advertising
- Do better communication skills lead to the development of the social self?
- How can you make social media advertising successful?
- Possible causes of the Mayan civilization’s political collapse
- Commission of Education and Communication’s worldwide contribution
- Coach and athletes’ communication strategy
- Celebrities‘ impact on politics
- Social media marketing for brand promotion
- What makes listening the most effective communication technique?
- Excessive social media usage and its consequences
- Media as a tool to cause intense emotions
- Verbal and nonverbal communication skills for presentations
- New media technologies and the development of relationships and communication
- Features and issues of the American political system
- Association between social media use and FOMO
- Communication issues between stakeholders
- Why is political opportunity theory essential for social movement studies?
- How do social media and the Internet connect people?
- How can communication be used for self-presentation?
- Does social media limit personal freedom?
- Is it possible to apply Goffman’s theory of the presentation of self in digital communication?
- The Democratic and Republican Party’s position on the issue of Terrorism
- How does social media affect families?
- Characteristics of a political issue
- Ageism in media and society
- Possible mobile communication technologies of the future
- How does social media technology improve democratic processes?
- Persuasion and public communication
- The signs of social media addiction
- The role of media in a political system
- Cultural differences in nonverbal communication
- The politically socialized vision of the world
- The negative effects of digital media platforms on the lives of young people
- Core beliefs of different political ideologies
- Approaches to overcome miscommunications in the workplace
- The effectiveness of social media tools for educational purposes
- Is technology a threat to face-to-face communication?
- What issues come with using electronic media?
- Difficulties connected with the development of communication technologies
Thanks for reading till the end! We hope you’ve enjoyed the article and found lots of helpful information. If you did, feel free to share it with your friends. We wish you good luck with the discourse analysis essay!
Further reading
❓ Discourse Analysis FAQs
Literary discourse analysis is a type of discourse analysis that deals with literature and is viewed as a relatively new approach to it. It integrates the analysis of literature and non-literary genres in an innovative study of discourse.
Rhetoric uses language to appeal to emotions to persuade, inform, or motivate the audience. Rhetorical discourse is used to study texts aimed at specific audiences. Such texts often try to convince or persuade people by using particular language and arguments.
Critical discourse analysis focuses on issues of power and inequalities in linguistic interactions between individuals and different groups. It studies the role of power in the social construction of difference and examines how it’s created, questioned or inflicted through communication.
Discourse analysis is a blanket term that encompasses a range of qualitative research approaches that analyze the use of language in social contexts. These techniques help understand the underlying message of what people say and how they say it, whereas in face-to-face conversation, non-verbal interaction, documents, or images.
To write a discourse analysis of any community, you need to examine and understand it. Ask yourself these questions and try to identify the patterns:
1. What ideas or concerns keep the community together?
2. What kind of langue does it use?
3. Does it produce any written documents?
